Subject: Southern Straits
2010-----Radiant Heat Any
comments
<>I have done the Southern Straits race before 3 times I
recall. Twice on a Hunter Legend 35.5 and one on the J-30 Radiant Heat.
I have also sailed Swiftsure and Patos Island races several
times and one Vic Maui and a trip on a friend's boat up the Inside
passage
to Skagway and Glacier Bay. I do not consider myself a very experienced
sailor but one who has been around a little bit and who is
generally comfortable on and around a small sail boat in various
conditions.
I had been away for 5
months and just returned to North
Saanich in time to prepare the boat for Patos Island 2010
and other
races and was entered and registered for the Southern Straits.
It is always difficult to have a regular crew
who is
available the same time as the skipper so often these races
are done
with short crew
or strangers on board.
As both races were requiring a PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL
YACHTING ASSOCIATION (PIYA) Certificate signed and on board for
Category II, I
went online and got the most recent copy of the updated
certificate and reviewed the required boat equipment.
Category II states it is for "Yachts capable of
racing in semi-protected waters, day or night, where heavy
weather
may be
encountered." There is then a long list of
requirements which must be
met. This includes the specifications of the boat and the
equipment to be aboard. Category I states it is for " Yachts
capable of
racing exposed waters
where the vessel must be self sufficient and capable of
enduring heavy storms." It would seem clear from this
that Category II are not
expected to race in off shore conditions or in heavy storms.
Light
Storms maybe??.
I checked all the supplies and placed
extra harnesses,
strobe lights,
Flashlights and floatation gear aboard. I replaced the
batteries in
the man overboard gear and made sure the gear was easily
deployed. This included the mandatory Life ring, MOB pole, strobe
and light as a
single unit (a big wave snatched it off and away it
went. I was glad
to see it deploy perfectly. Now I get to buy another one
and do it all
again) and also the rescue collar which was
unpacked and repacked
with the attached floatation light.
I was, I thought ready to pass inspection by the race
committee if
required. At this point I have not been involved in any
rescues or man
overboard situations although I had practiced drills but
in low wind
conditions and flat seas.
The inspections by the race committees
were more
something of a nuisance to be rid of as they usually
occurred after the
race was finished and only to the boats likely to place in
the
race results. I
submit that they were treated more of a fear factor that
could
disqualify one from the race after the fact and so deny
the prize earned rather than a real safety featured
requirement.
The exception to this was the
Vic-Maui Race I did in 1996
where inspections for safety gear etc were carried out
before
the race. Non compliance meant that one did not take part. This ensured
that all participants were fully compliant before the start.
On the day before the race I took Radiant Heat from North
Saanich to
the West Vancouver Yacht Club. Aboard were two crew, one
who had sailed with me the previous week in the Patos Race
and
another who had
sail a few time with me. Both had some degree of
competence having owned their own sail boats for some years. Two other
crew
drove and met us in West Van. One is a member of the
Coastguard
auxiliary and
owns his own boat and the other a stranger to me but with
good
credentials for sailing experience. I felt comfortable
with the number of crew and the general level of experience.
Subsequently
this was to be an important factor to our survival and success in the
rescue of
two men afloat. The evening before the race was a skippers meeting and
weather briefing at 8 pm. As we were at supper I barely made
it
there on time
but my crew were not there nor required to be.
The briefing was comprehensive and detailed by the
Canadian Environmental weather forecaster, Meteorologist
David
Jones.
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Charts, graphs, and computer simulations were displayed
and as I
recall the forecast went something like this. Race day
would be windy with sustained winds of 25-35 knots in the morning with
30-40 knots in the midday from the south East. Around 4 PM there was
the
expectation
that the wind would ease and veer to the Southwest. My
plans were to be low of the mark on our approach and if the
wind moved
to the South West we would not be headed badly enough that
we would
overstand the
mark by much and make a rounding. There was also a line
drawn on this graph for "gusts". Gusts were generally
in
the 50 knot range but one place about 3pm showed gusts to 58
knots. This caused a
level of
apprehension in me that I noted. Some people muttered
that the committee would postpone the start until the wind
abated.
I later told the crew of the weather
forecast and talked
about the sustained 35-40 knots to be expected. I have sailed in 40
knots before but in protected waters. I knew it was not the
wind one
had to worry about but the seas. It was forecast they would
reach 5
meters if the wind was as forecast. He was proven correct.
The crew
agreed they
would sail.
We were in the club lounge and a stranger came by and
sat
for a chat.
It was revealed that he was a lawyer from Calgary. In
conversation he offered the opinion that the committee was treading on
dangerous
ground if they let the race continue having received
the recent forecast, if there was injury or death. All
skippers sign
a waiver and
agree that they are responsible for their own boat and
crew and make their own decisions as to whether they will
sail or not.
However this person suggested that the committee would still
have some
liability in the current situation.
At this time I thought that the race
would be called or
postponed if there was no change in the forecast. The
following
morning, Race day, while at breakfast the weather was
discussed but it
seemed about 30 knots and there was no announcement on the
bulletin board
and it was a surprise to me that there was no morning
pre-race
skippers meeting.
Talking to another competitor it was mentioned that the
centre of the weather system had tracked further South
over
Victoria and that the race day weather was expected to ease.
It seemed everyone
was heading out.
The Start line for the race was off Dundarave Pier in
West Vancouver We motored out and our first indication of strong wind
was the beat to
English Bay. The head winds were strong enough to slow us
from 6 knots plus down to three and a half. This was because
of the
heavy chop as
well. We made the start area just in time for the warning
gun for the
first sequence and with a reefed main and jib sailed
around the area until our warning and had a decent
start with the
wind almost dead
down wind. The wind picked up again and after a short
while of trying to sail wing on wing I decided the
conservative sail plan
was the best
and we sailed with only the reefed main. Before we passed
Point Atkinson we were doing a steady 8 knots with touching
9
now and then It looked like plenty of wind for us and we were staying
with the fleet. Our course was about 250 magnetic and this
gave us
a deep broad
reach and lots of speed.
Over the next two hours the wind strengthened as as we
moved out into the strait the seas grew more tumulus and
bigger. It was
hard to keep the boat on an even keel sailing with the one
sail and
the helm was sometimes very heavy and we suffered from more
than one
round up but generally the course was dead downwind and we
were
shooting down the
backside of the waves with a steady recording of 12 knots
plus. 13 and
14 knot plus were now regular events. We were largely on
our own out
there. We could see no other sails except 2 some way
behind.We
recorded over 15 knots.
At this point we had an accidental jibe and as the
sail
came through the stress was too much for the wire pennant on
the main
sheet which parted. There was no other damage and a repair was
quickly effected with the placement of a new shackle and a
direct fitting
of the sheets to the boom. At this point we took the time to
put in a
second reef in the main. While this was accomplished we were
slow in the
water doing 3-4 knots and we were overtaken by a boat
sailing under
jib alone.
This we now believe to be Incisor. We attempted to
sail with the double reefed main but we were unable to hold
a course
without rounding up. The wind was much stronger. At this
time we
decided to quit the race and called in to the committee to
let them
know. Seas were now estimated to be up to 20 feet on a regular basis
and we motored on a course for Nanaimo. Most of the time the
boat was at a 15 deg heal due to the wind and the seas were
slightly
forward of abeam.
We we making about 5.5 knots and all seemed well when the
warning light for the engine heat appeared. This of course
was a
concern but I hoped it would be ok as it has happened before
for no
apparent reason.
I had had the engine fully serviced the previous week and
there appeared to be no problems. Water cooling was passing
through the
exhaust. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Contingency plans were talked
about and abandoned as
we spotted this mast above the waves. I could see no hull but I thought
it strange that a boat would be healed that much. It was a strange
thing but I now lost all sense of urgency and all my
concentration
was on the mast. Wind, seas, course, engine all passed back
to the
subconscious.
Back to automatic pilot in my head. After saying,
"Well we had better
go over and see what that is about ", I simply
turned downwind and
shortly revealed to us was a boat, capsized, with no more
than 2 feet
out of the water but regularly over washed with the seas.
Along this
space were six people sitting, hanging, on.
My impression is that
the seas were a little less at this
point but I don't know. I did not dare to go too close to
Incisor as
the windward
side would blow me on to the submerged craft and the
leeward side had
the mast. The crew of Radiant Heat were all active and
talking to each
other. I was busy with the piloting and circling around.
May Day calls
were made, The rescue collar was deployed and trailed
behind. We
yelled to Incisor that help was coming and they should
stay with their
boat. However two of their crew jumped into the water and
one swam out
to the trailing life sling but we were passed by. It is
pretty hard if
not impossible to slow a boat off the wind in 30-40 knots
of wind.
Then if the throttle is cut turning into the wind the
boat comes to a
halt without steerage. The men in the water were too
close to their
boat for me to pass by and turn up and circle around
without fouling
Incisor.
We came around again and the men were
further away and
this time one grabbed the rescue collar. As I could not stop
the boat
even at idle I
was doing 5 knots and dragging him further from Incisor.
He finally
let go. I came around again and this time slowed down to
1-2 knots and
we pulled him to the boat. As this man was large and
waterlogged he
was heavy! It took, I estimate, 15 minutes to get
him aboard. All 4
crew had a hold but there was nothing to get a hold of.
There was
nowhere to hook a line on. Nobody could get a line around
the man.
Nobody dare let go. Finally with several concerted shouts
of heave the
man was moved an inch at a time inboard over the side and
under the
lifelines and then he was aboard. He went head first down
the
companionway.
By now Incisor was a quarter mile or more away so we went
back to
circle around. 200 yard from Incisor we suddenly saw a
man in the
water. We were going upwind at this time and so I did a
parking job
next to the man and as he came along side he was grabbed.
Same
procedure all over again. This time everyone was more
tired. The man
in the water was weak. Another 10-15 minutes saw him
finally pulled
aboard, but not before we thought we had lost him.
Several times his
head went below the water. Finally a leg was lifted up
and the crew
with more coordinated shouts of heave finally got him
aboard.
The Coastguard had now arrived and we turned for Nanaimo,
One of the
rescued had severe hypothermia in stage two and
uncontrollable
shivering. One was sick. Our crew helped them strip off
and gave them
dry bedding . An hour later we finally made it to
sheltered waters and
handed our passengers over to the RCMP Cat who had
followed us in. All
this while the engine ran with the hot light on and we
made it into
Nanaimo harbour and docked without mishap.(After adding
oil and
checking out the motor I ran the engine for 7 hours with
no red light
appearing while motoring back to North Saanich, Was it the oil
light
on??)
Our crew (in no particular order ) of Rick
Slauenwhite,
Stefan Gashus.
Blair Kelly and Bill Schuss are to be commended for the
way they
worked together and achieved the unlikely and pulled two
people from
the water.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
1. I think the Race Committee should have called the
race
and postponed it pending clarification of the weather
forecast. Category
II is for inland protected waters. The Straits are not
that protected
and in some regard are worse than open ocean being subject
to shallow waters and stronger currents.
2. Most skippers should have decided not to sail.
Admittedly this is a hard call when you have paid the money
and done all the
preparation. I
should not have gone but did.
3. There should be a morning meeting and not just for
skippers but for
all crew with a final weather update which is 12 hours
more current
than the one we received.
4. The inflatable floatation devices are useless when
being rescued
and hauled aboard. One of the men had his ripped right
over his head.
He was left hanging on the side of the boat in a
storm with no
floatation gear to keep him afloat . If the crew had to
let go he
would have been drowned shortly afterward.
5 It should be mandatory that all crew wear proper
harness at all time
as well as floatation devices. Radiant Heat has
gear that can be
quickly attached to the topping lift and hauled up the
mast to a
sufficient height, then the other end can be attached to
the harness
and the 4:1 purchase would have allowed the person to be hauled
aboard. The person hanging on to the rescue collar did
not wear it as
described and none of our crew thought to tell him to put
it on so it
was impossible to use the tackle to get the man aboard.
This is
attributable to lack of preparedness and lack of
practice. This includes me too.
6. All harness must have a crotch strap to prevent it
being pulled
over the head of the person wearing it.
7. Category I,II,II or IV requirements should mean all
boats are inspected prior to racing and not allowed to race
if not
compliant.
The committee has then done their due diligence as far as
boat safety
is concerned
8. Skippers should take the time to explain the safety
equipment and
tackle to the crew. They should sign a statement to the
Race committee
that the crew is familiar with the boat and equipment.
9. Maybe Coastguard can put on some courses for us to
learn the best
procedures needed to rescue people in the water.
For example I do not know if it would have been easier to
get the men
aboard from the windward side. Perhaps the waves would
wash them
aboard. On the other hand the freeboard was reduced to a
foot on the
leeward side.
None of these comments are to attach blame or are of a
personal
nature. These are things I have learned from last
weekend. We must be
better prepared. The next storm may be on the way home
tomorrow
Regards
Tony Brogan
Radiant Heat
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